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Pennsylvania's electric grid was challenged by a record number of power outages in 2024, the highest in more than 30 years, the state Public Utility Commission (PUC) said.
The PUC issued an electric service reliability report last week examining 71 reported outages affecting more than 2.8 million electric customers last year, compared to 49 events affecting 1.67 million customers in 2023
The report arrives with electric grid reliability being a major issue in the debate in Harrisburg over finding new energy sources to meet growing power demand from consumers, data centers and artificial intelligence.
Severe storms and vegetation threatening power lines are the main causes of electric outages, the report said.
The two are linked.
"Electric reliability and resilience in Pennsylvania appears to be most challenged during storm activity that brings down off-right-of-way trees, and overhanging limbs from canopy trees above the clearing zones within the right-of-way onto the distribution lines," the report said. "Storm activity acts upon the vulnerability of weakened trees in the overhanging canopy, and off-right of way trees."
The report lists 27 major outage events last year affecting nearly 700,000 customers. A major event affects at least 10% of an electric distribution company's customers for more than five minutes.
A June 17, 2024, outage attributed to weather affected 108,000 customers of Duquesne Light Co. in western Pennsylvania, for example.
Other causes of major outages were trees, high winds, heavy rains, snow, storms with high winds, thunderstorms, animal contact and equipment failure.
Most of the 11 electric distribution companies serving Pennsylvania customers struggle to meet benchmarks for reliability performance, the report said.
The PUC urges continued company investment in long-term plans to improve infrastructure with a focus on vegetation removal and capital spending.
The agency suggests companies can use artificial intelligence, satellite data and other new technology to control vegetation beyond just trimming on a periodic basis.